Meteorology and Cimatology: On-Line Weather Studies

Through the Virginia Earth Science Collaborative (VESC), a partnership of nine institutes of higher education, non-profit organizations, and eighty-three school divisions, a 3-credit, graduate-level meteorology course was offered six times between Spring 2006 and Fall 2007. The course, entitled Meteorology, was offered at three locations (Richmond, Abingdon, and Harrisonburg), and a local instructor facilitated each section. Funding for the course development, instructor stipends, and participant expenses (including travel, meals, and tuition) was provided through a competitive Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) grant funded through the federal No Child Left Behind legislation of 2001. The framework of the course was the American Meteorological Society\u27s Online Weather Studies program, which provides meteorological content and laboratory investigations, and relies heavily on the use of Internet-accessed, real-time weather data to teach meteorological topics in a distance learning format. The 115 teacher participants were required to complete text readings and written assignments, conduct laboratory investigations, design projects using real—time meteorological data, complete exams, and attend three face-to-face meetings. For the purpose of the VESC grant evaluation, pre-test and post-test data were collected on 110 of the participants which indicated an average 14.7% increase in participants‘ content knowledge and use of real-time meteorological products (weather maps, satellite images, station models, etc.) in their instructional delivery

EMlighten

This project is focused on creating a system to increase patient satisfaction in hospitals. My senior design team has been working hand in hand with the emergency department of Akron General to design this system called EMlighten. The goal is to create an experience for patients where they exit the hospital feeling more satisfied than they currently are. Patient satisfaction is a key performance indicator used by many hospitals to determine how much additional funding each hospital department is granted. If patients feel more satisfied, not only is that indicative of better care, but departments will receive extra funding. EMlighten works by alerting staff in an unobtrusive manner (red light) X number of minutes have passed since a patient has been visited by any staff. Staff will respond to the alert by inquiring on the patient’s wellbeing and resetting the system via a motion sensor, or RFID card reader, (EMlighten is equipped for both). The cycle will then continue until the patient’s stay ends. We hypothesize the system will increase patient satisfaction without adding a stressful amount of work to staff members’ current duties

On Myth & Music, Legend & Landscape, Science, Stars, & Story; A Portfolio of Compositions: An Animist Aesthetic Argument on Symbolist Sound-Synergies, with Musings on Messiaen and the Taoism of Takemitzu, in the work of Mulvany.

The accompanying portfolio contains eight major works for disparate forces: Brú na Sídhe is a work for Large Orchestra; Bog Bodies is a work commissioned for a heterogenous Quintet; Gáeth Ard Úar is a work written for a Solo Bass/Contrabass Clarinet in B-flat; a Piano Trio, SzyzygyS, follows; a work entitled Blackwater is written for Solo Guitar; a diptych, named Sigil, written for a Dectet of Harp and Vibraphone with double String Quartet, follows; then, O Unworn World for a ten part Choral ensemble is presented as a meditation on a poem by Patrick Kavanagh; and, the last of the works in the portfolio, is a String Quartet entitled Wodwo. These pieces are conceived using an aesthetic guide provided by two substantially different composers: Tōru Takemitsu and Olivier Messiaen. The connection with these composers is explored in a chapter entitled the Aesthetic Review, Chapter One; and, indeed, throughout the commentaries provided in the subsequent chapters dealing with each of the works in the order stated. It is noted that, while these composers provide a guide to the formulation and execution, and even the subject matter, of ideas in music, it is not the case that the music will sound in any way similar to either of these composers. The divergent techniques of composition described within are substantiated with reference to these composers, and fall into three broadly defined categories: the Constructivist, the Impressionist, and the Deductivist approaches to style. The works also contain a similar approach to the subject matter of the inspiration. A thread of Pagan Spirituality and Mythology can be traced through all of the works, to varying degrees. They contain, in addition, a preponderance on duality as a concept; the duality of Science and Natural Spirituality; the duality of defined and undefined sounds; and the duality of composer and performer. With these works, the composer wishes to demonstrate a mastery of compositional techniques and a thorough and methodical approach to the realisation of a conceptual framework

State ex rel. Martinez v. City of Las Vegas: The Misuse of History and Precedent in Overruling the Pueblo Water Rights Doctrine in New Mexico

In State ex rel. Martinez v. City of Las Vegas, the Supreme Court of New Mexico struck the pueblo water rights doctrine from New Mexico law. State ex rel. Martinezs discussion of the pueblo water rights doctrine is primarily notable for its unprincipled use of history and the inconsistent application of the doctrine of stare decisis. This paper looks at the internal workings of the court\u27s opinion rather than to the consequences it will have in the external world. There are several obvious lines of analysis that this paper might follow, but which it does not: This is not a historical piece. It does not address the question of whether the pueblo water right actually existed under Mexican law in 1848 except insofar as necessary to set out the historical evidence that was presented to the State ex rel. Martinez court. In doing so, the paper does not try to interpret the primary sources that the court makes use of; nor does it evaluate the correctness of the books, law review articles, and other secondary source materials discussing the right. Instead, it takes the sources that were before the court at face value, and examines the ways in which State ex rel. Martinez seeks to make use of them. This paper also does not attempt to assess whether the case was rightly or wrongly decided on either legal or policy grounds. Rather than evaluating State ex rel. Martinez with reference to history, law, or policy, this critique evaluates the text with reference to the expectations that the text itself establishes. In order to do so, it employs a formalist approach, in the sense of literary, rather than legal formalism.\u2

Flood of Memories:Narratives of Flood and Loss in Tamil South India

Legendary deluges such as those said to have over-swept the Tamil lands or the flood waters that appear in popular religious and folk tales have long been a part of Tamil folk experience, and they serve as the backdrop against which contemporary flood is experienced. In this light, this dissertation explores the development and of disaster management policies in the Union Territory of Pondicherry from their origins in colonial-era policies to the significant re-orientation that followed the 2004 Asian tsunami. Conclusions are based on 14 months of ethnographic research in coastal fisher communities and government relief agencies in the Union Territory. Historical data collected from archives and interviews with territorial officials and NGO workers complement insights gleaned from extensive participant-observation and field collection among deep-sea fisher populations in the former French territories of the Coromandel Coast. Part one defines a Tamil “flood imaginary” by exploring myth-historic instances of flood in the Tamil-speaking region of India. The study then examines flood in the French colonies of India during the 18th and 19th centuries. Together these provide the background for better understanding the policies and beliefs about flood in place prior to the 2004 Asian tsunami and the effects these had on preparedness and resilience at both community and administrative levels. Part two focuses on the ways in which these affected how the territorial government and at-risk communities responded to the 2004 tsunami. Tensions that arose between government and community post-tsunami are examined through the interrogation of documents of agencies that undertook rehabilitation. ”Official” narratives of relief and reconstruction are balanced against the perspectives of recipients of government and voluntary aid and the local panchayat leaders who are agents of first resort for lodging requests and grievances. Through a comparison of relief efforts taken within a single state, this research higlights the efficacy of an approach to disaster relief and mitigation planning that appropriately integrates outside expertise with community metis and demonstrates the value of policy informed by ethnography

National Intellectual Disability Database Committee: annual report 2004 / Steve Barron, Fiona Mulvany.

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National physical and sensory disability database: a preliminary analysis June 2004 / Karen Galligan, Fiona Mulvany

HRB / 200

National Intellectual Disability Database Committee: annual report 2002 / Fiona Mulvany, Steve Barron

HRB / 200